by Rayann Marse
But a different atmosphere hung over things now. A desolate, ghost-town sort of feeling. Like everyone knew a storm was coming, and they had descended into their cellars to wait it out.
She guessed it had something to do with Ignu. Or the threat posed by Sybil. Or the growing fury and overcompensation of the Mindseat. Or all of it put together.
When they rounded the final corner and entered the main hall where all of this had begun, they finally met others.
Two sentries stood to either side of the huge door into the hangar where the human ship was parked. They bore spears and grim, dutiful expressions. When Gyrch and Stella approached, one of the guards let his eyes flick over to them for a second. But other than that, they remained perfectly still.
That is, until Gyrch tried to open the door. Then the guards quickly shoved their spears into place, forming an X. And then, just in case the servant didn't get the point, one of them put a boot in his gut and shoved him away.
"No entry," the right guard barked.
Gyrch straightened up, rubbing his stomach. He turned to Stella and said, "They won't allow you through. I was worried this would happen. But I can still go through alone and—"
"No entry for anyone," the guard added.
Gyrch turned to face him. "Why not?"
"Order of the Mindseat. No one is to go in or out of the hangar until a decision is reached regarding the human insubordination."
He glanced at Stella, but his face was impossible to read.
"I have to get through," she said.
"But you cannot," the guard replied simply.
"I just have to make sure Sybil is safe and unhurt. That's all I need. Then I will come back out."
Gyrch put a hand on her arm, giving her a sidelong look of warning. But she ignored him.
"The human is unhurt," the guard said. "However, she has broken many of our laws and will need to be punished in some way. You can do nothing to help her, and you will not be allowed through."
He looked at Gyrch now and added, "Go and show your cowardly face to the Mindseat, if you wish. They will tell you the same thing that I have."
Gyrch nodded. He grabbed Stella's arm. This time, he did not allow her to ignore him; he pulled her back, spinning her around and shoving her along the hall ahead of him.
"I'm sorry for this," he said. "But nothing can be done. Not by either of us."
She twisted her shoulders, un-wedging herself from his grasp. He kept on going, slamming into her and then, reflexively, wrapping his arms around her to prevent her from falling. He stumbled forward, lifting her off the ground, then corrected himself. He set her down, letting out a sigh.
"I'm very clumsy," he said, smoothing out his robes with both hands.
His eyes traveled up her body, as though to check her for injury, but they lingered on her chest. She was unconsciously rubbing her right breast, where his wrist had dug painfully into it. Realizing how low-cut her shirt was, and how he stared and swallowed hard and quickly looked away like a boy caught staring at his teacher, she took her hand away. And turned around to continue down the hall.
"It's okay," she said. "We all have little... missteps."
She could almost hear his embarrassment. And feel it coming off him in hot waves. She smiled to herself, feeling an unaccountable thrill. Feeling merciful, she decided to change the subject, "Is it true, what they said?" she asked without looking back. "You can make appeals to the Mindseat?"
"I can make an appeal to make an appeal," he said. "They can decide whether to listen to me. If I was part of the warrior class, they would be forced to give me a time slot. But there is a chance that I might be able to speak to them."
She smiled, turning around to face him so that she was walking backwards. She was about to speak, but he broke in before she had a chance to.
"I know what you're thinking," he told her. "You are not my concubine, so I will not be able to get you inside with me. I'm sorry."
"Well," she said, turning back around with a frown. "You told me before that I can give myself to a male of my choosing."
"If he will have you," Gyrch said. "You can offer yourself to anyone, but they are not obligated to take you. Although..."
"Although...? What?"
"Although, I don't see why anyone would reject you."
"Slych did," Stella reminded him.
"Perhaps he is a fool."
There was that thrill again, moving up from her stomach and settling somewhere around her heart. "What are you trying to say, Pickle-boy?"
"Nothing!" he quickly said. "Nothing at all. Just that if you chose to find a mate, you would find it easy to do so. But perhaps it would not be easy to convince him to appeal to the Mindseat on your behalf. Most males would not care about your troubles."
"Not the way you do, huh?"
"I am a servant; it is in my nature to care and help others."
"Oh, okay," she said. "That's it, is it? Gotcha. Acknowledged."
Gyrch said nothing.
She knew he was lying to himself, even if he didn't know it. But she told herself not to hit him too hard. He wasn't used to it. He needed a break before she pushed him any further.
"We're going to appeal to the Mindseat," she told him. "I'll stand outside the door and wait if I have to."
"And what do you need me to ask of them?"
"I just want to be able to visit my fellow women. Sybil included. That's all. And if you can swing it, I would like to know where they all are, exactly."
"I will do my best."
Chapter Nine
Aurora was under the table, doing her best to cheer Ignu up, when a knock sounded at the door. Ignu made a wordless sound, a grunt that was evidently interpreted as assent; the door opened, and two servant males walked in, bowing to Ignu and then bowing a second time when Aurora poked her head out.
"I will come," Ignu said. "Let me finish my meal."
But he had no plate in front of him. The servants gave each other looks of confusion, but Aurora didn't see that; she was already back to work.
Ignu did come, first in her mouth and then out the door with the servants. Aurora hopped on his back and rode along. When Menin walked at their natural speed, as they did now, not even her long legs could keep up.
Apparently, their destination was on the opposite side of the ship. At one point they even took an elevator, a tube that shot up a shaft on a tide of air and then somehow levitated in place to let them off. Probably by magnetism, if Aurora had to guess.
And they arrived at the doors to the Mindseat. They were shut and guarded, and it was easy to tell that something important stood beyond them. They were jet black, at least on this side, but seemed to absorb and hold the light, releasing it in bursts of sparkling luster. The handles were of quartz or something similar, veined with ribbons and streaks of color. As they approached, a servant dashed out of a side corridor and stood poised with handfuls of cloth squares. He distributed these to Ignu and the other servants. They used them to grasp the door handles, protecting them from oils and dirt.
Inside, a ceiling loomed high above, laden with slabs of that same black material. Between the slabs, carved and painted frescoes leapt out in three dimensions, like inverted statues. Aurora stared up at them, at these reclining and hanging shapes of Menin in various theatrical, exaggerated poses. Tales from history or mythology, things that might have happened in the deep past but whose details had been exaggerated to a degree of romance and elegance seldom seen in actual battle.
Though the ceiling must have been fifty or sixty feet high, the actual platform of the Mindseat nearly reached it. A huge set of stairs led up to the chairs where a group of elderly Menin sat speaking to one another. They used normal voices, but their words echoed and carried far in the acoustics of the room. Aurora caught their inflections and syllables, but her translator did not.
The servants accompanied them to the base of steps then saw their way out. The doors were shut behind them; the stoic guards went ba
ck to their places.
One of the elders finally broke away from the conversing group and came to the edge of the platform. Looking down the many steps, he spoke; his voice boomed through the room, filling it to every corner. This time, it was easily translated.
"Ignu and his human concubine," the elder said. "We have been trying to decide what to do with you."
"Elder Uklu," Ignu called. "Your cowardice and pathetic desperation disgust me. You have won more combats than anyone, but I see none of that fighting spirit in you now. You are nothing anymore but a set of flapping lips that need to be silenced. My appeal is that you temporarily remove yourself from the Mindseat and challenge me. There is no honorable way to deal with me other than that. I have done nothing against the law."
Uklu listened to all this very patiently, showing no sign of anger or offense. When Ignu was finished, he responded in an even tone of voice.
"You are not here to make appeals, Ignu. You are here to listen to our judgment and to submit yourself to it. We understand your ambitions, but we cannot allow you to see them through. It is true what you have said, that I have won more combats that anyone. But half of those, at least, were from challenges by other males. And they were spread out over many years. What you are doing in unsustainable. It is our deepest wish that we could alter your temperament and simply convince you to stop what you are doing. But we understand that you, if left free of consequence, would simply continue on as you are now."
Aurora wanted desperately to jump in, to defend her man, but she bit her tongue hard and tried to focus on the feeling of his hand in hers.
"We do not wish to enact physical punishment on you," Uklu continued. "Such a thing would be a great waste. If we castrated you, you might become depressed and docile; that would be of no use to society. If we had you executed, any contribution you might have made in the future would obviously be rendered impossible. And these punishments would seem a bit severe for the involved offense. No outright crime has been committed. Simply, you have shown ambition to a degree that must be checked before irreversible damage is done. Therefore..."
But now there was suddenly an audible commotion from out in the hall. Aurora recognized the voice of Stella demanding an answer to some question. The voice of one of the guards responded.
At a gesture from Uklu, a servant appeared from the rear of the platform. Uklu leaned in and whispered something. The servant hurried down the steps and went to the doors. Using the hem of his robes to grasp the handle, he opened them and stuck his head out to add something to the argument that ensued beyond.
After a few moments, the doors were drawn fully open. Stella came in, hair damp with sweat and cheeks burning red. She was followed by another servant; he walked very stiffly and had an expression of existential horror on his face. By the looks of it, he would rather be anywhere rather than here. If given the option to be jettisoned into space, Aurora felt confident he would take it without hesitation.
Stella and her companion approached the foot of the steps and stood beside the others. Aurora and the other woman shared a look. They were not friends, never had been and never would be, but by the grace of their gender and shared humanity they were able to say a lot even when limited to facial expressions.
"This is most convenient," the elder Uklu announced. "You might have chosen a slightly better time to arrive than directly before the pronouncement of a sentencing. But this saves me from having to send for you. What is your name, servant?"
"Gyrch," the servant said, staring at the floor.
"And what brings you here in the company of a female that does not belong to you, in possession or in race? What strange tale do you have to tell us?"
"She asked for my help, elder. I was going to come in and make an appeal. And leave her in the hall, of course."
"Of course! I'm glad to see that your plan was perfectly executed. Would you kindly tell me why the voice of this female so rudely interrupted our proceedings?"
Aurora looked over at Stella again. The singer showed remarkable fortitude, staring straight up at the elder with more than a hint of attitude on her face. As if she understood the dynamics here better than he did and had determined him to be an idiot.
Meanwhile, the servant had made several attempts to speak but kept stuttering and trailing off.
"Perhaps the female should speak," said Uklu, gesturing down toward Stella.
"Very well," Stella said. "First, I want to say, um, Elder, that Gyrch isn't to blame for anything. He was just doing his job, helping me out. In fact, it was a warrior named Slych who originally told him to assist me."
Ignu grunted in disgust at the name.
"I was going to accompany him just up to the doors outside," Stella continued. "But when we got here and Gyrch asked to appeal to you, the guards rejected him. I assume because you were already busy with Ignu and Aurora. But they didn't say that. They acted very rude as well, if you don't mind me saying."
"You are a servant and a guest," said Uklu. "A female guest, moreover. Our guards are not obligated to speak to you at all. You should consider even their rejection to be a courtesy."
Stella nodded. "Okay. I understand."
Do you? Aurora wanted to ask.
"And I apologize," said Stella. "But perhaps you can understand me. I'm not asking for empathy, just understanding. The male who chose me has died. I am alone. And then I hear that Amnay, the mate of my good friend Kozue, is in danger. And then he vanishes into thin air. Already, I'm confused and afraid. And lost. Add to that the news that Sybil, my mentor, has gotten herself into a bad spot. Emotionally and mentally speaking, I'm floundering. Suffocating. So when I heard this rejection from your guards, I reacted poorly. I'll admit."
Uklu, eternally patient, heard her words and waited a moment to respond in case she wanted to add anything.
"How did you react?" he asked.
"Well..." Stella smiled nervously, showing too many teeth. "I had kind of a breakdown. I started yelling. I even tried to hit one of them. Gyrch caught my arm. It wouldn't have hurt the guy, obviously, but he tells me hitting the guard would have guaranteed violent punishment. So... Thanks, Gyrch. After he saved me, I still had some stern words to say. And boy, did I say them. I pretty much demanded that Gyrch be let in. Without really expecting him to be. But then the door opened, your servant stuck his little head out, and... here we are."
Uklu seemed quite amused by this. Behind him, however, several of the other elders talked in low, grim voices. A bunch of old grumpy bastards, Aurora thought. No humor among them. But this Uklu fellow seemed cool.
"And what is your plea?" he asked now. "You came here to have your servant ask something of us. What is it?"
"I'm worried about the other humans," Stella replied. "So I wanted to ask if you would allow me to visit Sybil. I just want to be sure she's safe."
"She is," said Uklu. "For now. No decision has been made as of yet, in regards to her transgressions."
"Right. That's what the guys at the hangar doors said, too. But, you understand, I hope. I kind of want to see her with my own eyes. And I wouldn't mind if someone told me where the other humans are, too, so that I can check up on them. You see, I feel like I'm in a unique position, being without a mate and such. I can move more freely. If you would let me, maybe I could even act as a sort of middleman. Someone unbeholden to any individual. I could facilitate... things, discussions and stuff, between Menin and human."
"That would be a useful role," Uklu said. "Unfortunately, we have reached a place now where we distrust humans. We are just about to deal with Aurora, here. But there is also Kozue, who has escaped somehow with her mate. We will have to figure out how to deal with her, if she shows up again. And there is Tina, who belongs to Slych. We see no reason to disturb her; she seems to be getting on just fine. Her and Aurora, it seems, are the only human females who have been able to integrate properly."
Stella took a step forward. "Wait a second, chief. Do you think I've been given a decent
chance? My guy got murdered. And I haven't had a chance to think about my future here, I've been too busy trying to—"
"Shut up," Uklu snapped. "And listen, now. We know why Agron decided to challenge Slych. You did not cooperate with him. You showed an unwillingness to fit in with our society. You are stubborn, set in your ways, and you will not change because of anything we say or do. Which is why we must, in the wake of what Sybil has done, take an extreme measure to ensure you do not interfere with our way of life."
Stella took this verbal lashing well. The servant Gyrch, on the other hand, seemed to have been struck a physical blow. He reared back, reaching up to cover his mouth with one hand.
"Elder," he said. "Please... this woman may not wish to take the role of concubine, but neither did any of our female servants. She does not have any ill intent, I assure you."
Uklu smiled, waving a dismissive hand. "We will not base vital decisions on the testimony of a servant. In fact, we must also call your loyalties into question, Gyrch. It would seem to me, based on observations by certain other servants, that you have some sort of attachment to this female. Your judgment and allegiances may be clouded. Therefore, we will have to punish you similarly."
At this, Stella's hard shell of indifference cracked. She turned around, reaching out as though to touch Gyrch's arm. She thought better of this and quickly put her arm back to her side, even as Gyrch wavered on his feet and nearly fell to the floor.
"The punishment will be lenient," Uklu said. "In fact, I will give you the same exact punishment I was going to give to Ignu and Aurora before we were interrupted. Exile to the nearest colony, to be enacted immediately and to last for an indefinite period. You will be departing as soon as a ship is prepared for you."
Uklu turned and went to sit down as calmly as if he had just made a casual announcement over dinner. The other elders, though still grumpy, seemed to approve of his actions and words.